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They Very Rev. M. Rogojin who has just returned here from Peiping, tells that the Russian Orthodox Mission in that city, headed by Bishop Victor, has lately been very active. Attention has been given to the vast tracts of land presented to the Mission by the Imperial Government of China. Prior to the Russian revolution the Mission was the recipient of regular monetary help from the Tsarist Government, did active missionary work in Manchuria, North China and in other parts of the country, and also owned whol was at one time the best printing press in Peiping. In addition to publishing religious books both in Chin ese and Russian, the Mission published many scientific volumes written by its priests, some of whom had wide fame as Sinologues. Among these may be mentioned the works of Father Hyacinth, Archimandrite Pavel, Tsvetkov, Zaharov and others. The heads of the Mission also had a reputation for being scholars. For instance Mitropolite Innokenty, who died several years ago, compiled a comprehensive Russo-Chinese Dictionary. At. present the Mission directs all Russian church life in China. The Russian clerical world is divided into two parts—those of the black cloth and those of the white cloth. In the first category are monks, while into the second fall priests and priors. A special administrative body is at present being formed in Peiping to direct the activities of the "white clergy," and the Very Rev. M. Rogojin has received the permission of Bishop Victor to draft the plan of this new administration.
There are several vacancies in the Russian Regiment of the French Police, the local emigrant press informs.
Men wishing. to join the Regiment must be of good health, be no shorter than 1 metre and 72 cen-timoters, and no older than 30 years of age, and must have an unblemished record. Names of candidates are being taken at the police headquarters at 22 Rue Stanislas Chevalier.
Actors, Actresses to Amalgamate Local Russian actors and actresses have decided to amalgamate and thus make a troupe capable of staging really artistic productions. The initiative of this movement goes to Mrs. Z. A. Pribitkova. The committee also includes Mme L. N. Knisjeviteh, Messrs. S. A. Tomsky, L. L- Gaidarov and V. V. Lorenz. Remuneration will be done on a point system, in order to give each member of the troupe the feeling that he has a say in its direction. The season will commence in the first part of October, and by tradition the opening night will present the Russian public with one of the classics of the Russian theatre. The well-known Hankow millionaires, Mrs. E. N. Litvinova, who was forced by the hostilities to leave for a rest to Tsingtao, had valuables and money stolen from her on the very night of her birthday, news has come from that city. Mrs. Litvinova had reached her 70th birthday, and number of her friends visited her in the evening, After a religious service the guests and hostess sat down to dinner, and after the party was over Mrs. Litvinova went to bed. She was awakened by a thief climbing through her window, She screamed, flung herself at the window and even jumped Into the garden below. But the thief had flown with her water and handbag containing money.
Harbin Living Cheap ten, potatoes from 1% to 2 cents a pound, while 80 cents will buy 100 tomatoes. Sugar, it is true, costs, 18 cents a pound, as much as it costs locally, but fresh lemon is sold for only 25 cents a pound. The prices of fruit are also very low. And, to get away from the compradore shop, a comfortable flat can be had for $50 a month, a fully furnished room for $20, a bus-ride to any end of the town for 5 cents, and taxi conveyance for the maximum sum of 10 cents.
How Russians Manage Locally Is it possible to live in Shanghai on $75 a month? Since this sum represents the average earning of the Russian employee of this city, an investigation into the matter, was started by the "Shanghai Zaria," arriving at different figures in the case of a young woman and in that of a man. A room cost the average self-supporting young girl $21—$1 being the traditional "Cum-shaw for the boy. Food costs her $35 a month, since she is unable to take time off from her work to cook herself and therefore must eat in a restaurant or in the boarding-house where she stays. Thus board and lodging together costs her $56, leaving $19 with which she must cover her modest expenses for the laundry, spend $2 to $3 monthly on cosmetics and spend a few dollars on transportation. There remains $10 to spend on dresses—a sum that is generally agreed to be not very adequate. One girl, however, revealed secret method she employs for having more money left to spend on clothes. "You see," she said, "you can't economize on cosmetics, and you cant economize any more on the room. So the only thing left to economize on is the food. In this respect a desire to reduce helps a lot. Also most of us girls have "boy-friends," or just male companions. They often ask us "out," and if we accept it means added economy. Actually food costs me no more than $20. And thi means that each month I have abou" $25 to spend on clothes. Whic! makes things kind of easier."
To a man, however, living no $75 a month is far from easy—almost impossible, in fact. A room for which a girl would pay $20, costs bim $25, it being one of the theories of hous:- wives that a man is more self-supporting than a girl Food costs him $40 a month, and the remaining few dollars barely suffice to pay for the laundry, cigarettes and a few amusements. "The clothes-question is an acute one, and if it were not for the existence of second-hand shops in Shanghai, it would be well-nigh unsolvable. Even so, the purchase of a new suit usually means rigid economy on food and visits to friends around dinner-time. Also he has lady-friends whom he must take to a cinema or dancing, and what remains of his $75 is never enough to cover that. As a result he is constantly in debt:
A Mere Existence In the Russian colony there are also families who, impossible as it may seem, contrive to live on $75 a month. Here, of course, every ten-cent piece acquires new significance. The room costs the family a minimum of $25, and food from $40 to $45, housewives revealing a flair for ingeniously making end meet. On $1 or $1.20 they can make simple but wholesome meal for the whole day. The question of clothes j The colony's housewives recent learned with jealousy of the sensa-lienally cheap prices of food in Harbin compared to the ones current Shanghai. Meat in Harbin at present costs 28 cents a pound, pork 32 cents a pound. White bread costs 13 cents, while grey bread is bought for little as 11 cents. Flour also ce: 13 cents a pound. A bottle of milk in Harbin costs 10 cents, Pure butter costs from 80 cents to $100, kitchen butter 27 cents. "Holland" costs from 45 cents to 75 cents, and of excellent quality. Cabbage costs 2% cents a pound, carrots 3 cents per ce
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.